What's New in Zoho Books - August 2024

What's New in Zoho Books - August 2024

Hello users,

We've rolled out new features and enhancements to elevate your accounting experience in Zoho Books. Dive in to discover what's new in Zoho Books this August.

Update Reports Permissions


We’ve enhanced report permissions in Zoho Books to make your organization more secure. For new organizations, you will need to give access to both reports and the related modules while creating roles. For existing organizations, you will get a notification and should edit the roles missing these permissions. We’ve also added a "Skip Module Access" option so you can share reports with specific users without enabling module permissions for them.


Create Custom Dashboards


You can now customize your dashboards using predefined components, marketplace widgets, and reports. You will be able to reorder, edit, delete, and resize the charts and components in the dashboard. You can also mark your custom dashboards as favorites and manage dashboard permissions for your users. Please note that this feature is only available for the Elite and Ultimate plans of Zoho Books.


Migrate to Kenya Edition  [Kenya Edition]


We have introduced a new migration tool that allows you to migrate your Zoho Books organization from Global to Kenya edition effortlessly. This tool will appear at the top of the left sidebar if certain prerequisites are met and highlights the features available in the Kenya edition. You will also be able to disable all unsupported preferences with a single click.

If your organization has no existing taxes, the migration will occur immediately. If there are existing taxes, you will be able to replace them with edition-specific taxes or delete them.


Add Dispatch From Address [India Edition]


A dispatch address in Zoho Books is the location from which your goods are shipped. For e-Invoice enabled organizations, you can include this address in templates and PDFs of invoices and credit notes. It supports various templates like Spreadsheet, Spreadsheet Plus, Spreadsheet Lite, and custom templates.

To enable this feature, go to Settings > Customization > PDF Templates > Templates > Invoices/Credit Notes. Edit a template that supports dispatch addresses and check the Show Dispatch From Address box in the Transaction Details section.


e-Invoice QR Reader App [India Edition]


We have introduced the e-Invoice QR Reader app for iOS and iPadOS users of Zoho Books. This app scans, decrypts, and validates your e-Invoice QR codes in compliance with India's tax regulations.

Every e-invoice generated in the GST portal has a unique QR code containing crucial details such as the GSTIN and seller information. When you scan a valid QR code using the app, it displays essential invoice details like the organization name, GSTIN invoice date, total, and tax total. If an invalid QR code is scanned, the app immediately notifies the user. Download the E-invoice QR Reader app today to streamline your e-invoicing process.


Wio Bank Integration [United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman Editions]


Wio is a digital finance platform licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE that offers personal and business banking services. If you have an account with Wio Bank, you can connect it with your Zoho books organization. Once you connect your bank account, you will be able to automatically fetch your bank feeds to Zoho Books without a third-party service provider.

To connect your Wio Bank account with Zoho Books, go to Banking > Add Bank or Credit Card > Wio Bank PJSC and then click Yes, Configure bank account in the popup that appears.


VAT Carry Forward [Kenya Edition]


Zoho Books now supports VAT carry forward in the VAT3 return, which allows you to carry forward excess VAT from one tax period to the next. If the current VAT value is claimable, you can select the carry forward option, and the amount will be reflected in Box 17. This allows businesses to use the extra VAT from past periods to reduce their future VAT payments and report taxes accurately.

Late Payment Penalties for VAT [Kenya Edition]


In Kenya, late VAT payments incur a 10% penalty, and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) adds another 20% penalty on unpaid amounts. To handle this in the VAT3 return, we've introduced a new flow. First, the total tax due is recorded in the VAT Payable Account, whereas the penalties and interest will be tracked in an expense account. Finally, these amounts will be settled using a specific bank account to ensure financial balance.

TDS Receivables Summary Report  [India Edition]


We have introduced the TDS receivables summary report that summarizes the total TDS deductions made on invoices, bills of supply, customer debit notes, and credit notes in your organization. Additionally, the report can be grouped based on customers or TDS sections , and the columns in the report can be customized. You can use this report to verify the TDS amount deducted and reported in your Form 26AS.
 
To view your Tax Receivables Summary report, go to Reports > Taxes and select TDS Receivables Summary.


Enhanced Barcode Templates

We have made some enhancements to the barcodes in Zoho Books. Now, you can add fields like MRP (Maximum Retail Price), Organization Name, and Company Logo to your barcode templates. Additionally, you can now add units (e.g., kg, litres, pieces) to barcodes, displaying the item's measurement information along with your organization name.

To enable these features in your barcode templates, go to Settings > Items > Field Customization.


Other Feature Enhancements

  • Use custom fields to search for manual journals in the advanced search bar.

  • You can now calculate custom formula fields for all existing records, not just new or edited ones. Once the existing records are updated, you'll receive a notification.

  • Export your manual journals in bulk faster by processing files in the background and sending them to your primary email.

  • You can now include the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of an item while creating or editing it. [India Edition] 

  • You can now apply Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) in your quotes, sales orders, credit notes, recurring invoices, purchase orders, and vendor credits. [India Edition]


That's it from us for this month's product updates! We hope the latest enhancements are helpful for your business. You can also visit the What's New timeline for byte-sized information about our previous feature updates and enhancements.

We'll catch you in next month's product updates. Until then, if you require any assistance or need clarifications, feel free to write to us at support@zohobooks.com, we'd be happy to help!


Best regards,
The Zoho Books Team





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